This Week in Auto Racing July 24 - 26

This Week in Auto Racing July 24 - 26

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - NASCAR is in Indianapolis this weekend, and that means someone will kiss the bricks at the "big" track, while a lot of beating and banging will go on at the nearby "short" track. Meanwhile, the IndyCar Series heads north to Edmonton, Canada, and Formula One travels to Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Sprint Cup Series

Allstate 400 at the Brickyard - Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Indianapolis, IN

After taking their final off-week of the season, the Sprint Cup Series heads to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway for one of the most prestigious races of the season - the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. This will be the 16th time the series has run at IMS, which is celebrating its centennial anniversary this year.

Perhaps the biggest question entering Sunday's 400-mile race at Indy is how well the tires will hold up after last year's debacle there.

A track-record 52 of 160 laps were run under caution, as NASCAR planned nine competition cautions to allow teams to come down pit road and change their tires. No more than 12 consecutive green-flag laps occurred during the event.

Jimmie Johnson went on to win for the second time at the Brickyard in 2008. His first victory there came in 2006.

Since last year's race, seven tire tests have been conducted at the 2.5-mile oval, with NASCAR and Goodyear confident the tire problem has been resolved.

Many drivers, including Tony Stewart, have also praised Goodyear for their efforts after participating in the tire maker's tests at Indy.

Stewart, the current points leader, is a two-time winner at Indianapolis as well, taking the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard in 2005 and '07.

"It was a dream come true," Stewart said. "It's always been a dream to win in Indianapolis, and I've been very blessed and fortunate to win it twice now."

Stewart, who grew up in nearby in nearby Columbus, IN, returns to the Brickyard as a first-year driver/owner.

"It would be that much more special to win it as a team owner too," Stewart added.

Last year, Stewart chose the No.14 for his Sprint Cup car in honor of his idol, four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt.

Ryan Newman, also an Indiana native, drives the No.39 car for Stewart-Haas Racing.

Stewart holds a 175-point lead over Jeff Gordon, who has four victories at Indianapolis, including the inaugural event there in 1994. Gordon is tied with Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears for second on the track's all-time win list.

"I'm just so thrilled and excited that I have won at the Brickyard," Gordon said. "It's still an extremely important race for us, and I think it's still important for motorsports, NASCAR and me personally. I just love competing there with the history."

Formula One legend Michael Schumacher holds the record for most victories at Indy. He won the United States Grand Prix there five times.

With seven races to go before the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" championship begins in September, Greg Biffle sits outside the top-12. Biffle fell four positions to 13th in points after a 31st-place finish at Chicagoland. He is now 10 points behind 12th-place Matt Kenseth, who is Biffle's teammate at Roush Fenway Racing.

Carl Edwards, also from Roush, is sixth in points. Edwards has yet to win a race this year after scoring a series-high nine victories last season. He had an impressive finish in last year's race at Indy.

"Last year finishing second at the Brickyard was close enough to give me a taste of what it would be like to win there," Edwards said. "That's a race that is at the top of every driver's list. It would be spectacular to win it."

Juan Pablo Montoya and Sam Hornish Jr. have an opportunity this weekend to become the first driver to win both the Indy 500 and Brickyard 400. Montoya, who is enjoying a stellar season in Sprint Cup this year, won the 500 in 2000. He is currently ninth in points. The Colombian finished second in the 400 in 2007.

Hornish took the Indy 500 in 2006.

Fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. is also seeking his first victory of the season. Earnhardt Jr. recently visited IMS for a scheduled ride in an IndyCar with Dan Wheldon. However, rain prevented the ride from happening.

Earnhardt Jr. did jump into Wheldon's No.4 to get a feel for what it's like to sit in an IndyCar. He also expressed an interest to compete in a future Indy 500.

"It's an honor to run here," Earnhardt Jr. said. "To win at this racetrack, regardless of the series, I think is great for any driver's resume. Not only in North America but the world. This place is second to none when it comes to history, and when you think about motorsports, you think about Indy."

Forty-six teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.

Nationwide Series

Kroger 200 - O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis - Clermont, IN

While the Sprint Cup Series competes at the "big" track in Indianapolis, the Nationwide Series will run down the road at O'Reilly Raceway Park. Nationwide teams hit the track with the Kroger 200 on Saturday. The series has been racing there each year since 1982.

Kyle Busch won last Saturday at St. Louis and extended his points lead to 212 over Carl Edwards. Busch has now won at 17 different tracks on NASCAR's second-tier series. He also extended his streak of finishing first or second to seven races.

"Hopefully this will just keep the momentum rolling," Busch said after his win at St. Louis. "We've had real strong Nationwide cars this year, and this is just another good one."

Busch is the defending winner of the Kroger 200. Prior to last year's race at ORP, NASCAR made Toyota teams reduce their engine horsepower to even the competition in the series. Toyota won 15 of the first 22 Nationwide events in 2008. The rule change had no effect whatsoever on Busch, as he led 197 of 200 laps for his second victory at the 0.686-mile track. He also won there in 2004.

Two years ago, Jason Leffler won the 200-lap event at ORP and gave Toyota its maiden victory in the series.

Morgan Shepherd leads all drivers with three victories at ORP. Shepherd won there in 1982, '84 and '88. Busch, Kevin Harvick, Jason Keller and Randy LaJoie are the other drivers with repeat wins at ORP.

Forty-eight teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Kroger 200.

Camping World Truck Series

AAA Insurance 200 - O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis - Clermont, IN

The Craftsman Truck Series will also be at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. After winning the last three races, points leader Ron Hornaday Jr. has an opportunity to set a series record at ORP this weekend.

No driver has ever won four in a row in the 15-year history of the series.

Hornaday's winning streak began one month ago at Milwaukee and continued at Memphis and then Kentucky. He also won three consecutive races in 1997 when he took Milwaukee, Louisville and Colorado.

"This is really unbelievable," Hornaday said. "I'm not sure what we're doing, but we need to keep doing it."

Mike Skinner (1996 and 2007), Greg Biffle (2000), Todd Bodine (2006) and Johnny Benson (2008) have also won three straight races in the series.

Hornaday has a great shot of setting the record since he has two truck wins and one Nationwide victory at ORP. He enters Friday's race with a 96-point lead over Matt Crafton.

The series has been racing at ORP each year since 1995. Hornaday, Mike Skinner and Jack Sprague are the only drivers with repeat victories there. Skinner won the first two races at this short track from 1995-96.

Johnny Benson won last year at ORP. Benson's Red Horse Racing team suspended operations in early June due to lack of sponsorship, but the team has their No.1 Toyota with 19-year-old driver Caitlin Shaw on this week's entry list. Shaw is expected to make her series debut.

"It's such a huge accomplishment for me to be able to compete in the Camping World Truck Series," she said.

Benson, meanwhile, continues to recuperate from injuries he sustained during a fiery crash in a SuperModified race last month in Marne, MI.

Thirty-three teams are on the preliminary entry list for the AAA Insurance 200.

Kyle Busch is pulling triple duty in Indianapolis this weekend, as he is entered in this race.

INDYCAR SERIES

Rexall Edmonton Indy - City Centre Airport - Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

For the second straight race, the IndyCar Series runs in Canada with this weekend's Rexall Edmonton Indy at City Centre Airport in Edmonton, Alberta. This is the second year the series runs at the 1.96-mile, 14-turn temporary street/airport course.

After his victory last week on the streets of Toronto, Dario Franchitti reclaimed the lead in the series rankings. Scott Dixon finished fourth at Toronto and fell two points behind his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate.

Dixon won the inaugural race at Edmonton in 2008. He grabbed the lead from Helio Castroneves with 30 laps to go and then easily beat Castroneves to the finish line by nearly six seconds for his fifth victory of the season.

"We weren't maybe the best car, but we put everything together when it counted, and that's what pulled us through especially at the end," Dixon said.

Castroneves led a race-high 35 laps.

Ryan Briscoe, who is Castroneves' teammate at Team Penske, won the pole for the first IndyCar race at Edmonton last year. Briscoe is coming off a second- place finish at Toronto. He has finished in the runner-up spot in five of the last six races.

"I think there's a lot of enthusiasm when we come here to Canada," Briscoe said. "It seems like the fans really get into it up there. Last year (at Edmonton) the three-day weekend, even the Friday, you just couldn't move in the paddock. It's really great to see."

Edmonton is no stranger to motorsports. This track previously hosted CART/ ChampCar Series events for three seasons. Sebastien Bourdais won at Edmonton twice, while Justin Wilson, now racing in IndyCar, took the checkered flag in 2006.

Edmonton's first raceway was originally built in the late 1940's as a dirt oval named Breckenridge Oval. The track was converted into a quarter-mile oval and re-named Speedway Park the following year. In 1968, the full road course was opened in time for the first Can-Am race.

From 1968-1982, Edmonton International Speedway Park hosted Can-Am, Formula 1600, Formula 5000, Trans-Am and NHRA drag racing. Notable drivers that raced at Edmonton included Jackie Stewart, Bruce McLaren, Danny Sullivan, Jacky Ickx, Denny Hulme, Mark Donahue and Pete Revson.

FORMULA ONE

Hungarian Grand Prix - Hungaroring - Budapest, Hungary

Since buying out Jaguar in 2004, Red Bull Racing has developed into a perennial threat in the Formula One driver and constructors' championships. This year has turned out to be the breakthrough season for Red Bull, thanks in part to team newcomer Sebastian Vettel, who has two wins and three poles, and veteran Mark Webber, who recorded his long-awaited maiden F1 win two weeks ago in Germany.

Red Bull is giving the mighty Brawn GP a run for their money. Brawn has accumulated 112 points compared to 92.5 for Red Bull in the constructor standings.

Brawn dominated the early season with driver Jenson Button winning six of the first seven grand prix. However, Red Bull has turned the tables with Vettel and Webber combining for wins in the last two grand prix.

"Putting aside our performance and two dominant one-two finishes in the last two races, the team's determination to continue to improve and not to take anything for granted is very important," Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said. "There are no obvious weaknesses in our armory, but as a group, we must continue to push ourselves in all areas all the time."

Button continues to hold a comfortable lead in the driver world championship standings, with 68 points compared to 47 for Vettel and 45.5 for Webber. Button's teammate, Rubens Barrichello, has accrued 44 points.

In what looked to be an untouchable year for Brawn, the pendulum has swung now in Red Bull's direction. And it could likely continue this weekend with the Hungarian Grand Prix at Hungaroring.

During last year's fierce battle between rivals McLaren and Ferrari, Heikki Kovalainen, in his first season with McLaren, won the Hungarian GP in a stunning conclusion. Ferrari's Felipe Massa dominated the race, but Massa suffered engine failure with three laps to go, allowing Kovalainen to capture the lead.

Kovalainen went on to score his maiden victory and become the 100th driver to win an F1 grand prix.

"Obviously I won in Hungary in 2008, so it will be nice to come back to Budapest again," Kovalainen said. "This race is likely to be won or lost in qualifying. You've got to be at the front and run an aggressive first stint if you are to succeed in the race."

Kovalainen is rumored to be on the hot seat at McLaren, with the Finn posting only five points so far this year.

Hungaroring is built 12 miles northeast of Budapest and is set in a natural amphitheater. Overtaking is quite difficult since the 2.722-mile course is very narrow with a a lot of corners (13). The pole sitter for the Hungarian GP has gone on to win six of the last 10 times at Hungaroring.